Leah Senior - Pretty Faces (2017)

Leah Senior’s second album Pretty Faces is to be released in May 2017 and pays homage to her dark folk roots while hinting at layers of pop and psychedelic undertones. The blinds are drawn and the songs are covered in a fine layer of dust yet there is sunlight peaking through the gaps, a silver lining to a dusky tone and a sense of humour behind the tragedy.

Pretty Faces is an exploration of personal liberation acquired through loss and the breaking of expectations on oneself. The songs embody a sense of outsider freedom epitomised in the last track Loser “You’re a loser like me, pay the price for feeling free”.

The album arises from a desire to transcend the self, as portrayed in Turn, “Turn for the sky behind the birds, burn the string, cause we are not tied to anything” and move away from expectations of the norm.The title track Pretty Faces is a tongue in cheek suggestion that we are not bound to our features and that beauty is fluid.

The songs are sparsely arranged, Leah Senior’s finger picking providing a stark canvas for her unusual lyrical wit. The songs are complimented with old-world piano and guitar performed by Jesse Williams and dulcet sibling harmonies (Andi Senior). Both sides of the record build to two climactic moments with Alex Bleakly (Sal Wonder) and Michael Cavanagh (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard) providing a driving 70s rhythm section for songs "Loser" and "Black Limousine".

A chance late night encounter with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard saw Leah Senior joining their independent label Flightless to release her first album Summer’s On The Ground.

A black folk sheep in a sea of psychedelia has proven to be the perfect fit and her second album Pretty Faces will sit amongst King Gizzard,The Murlocs and ORB releases in 2017. The album was recorded and produced with Gizzard’s own Joey Walker and features Michael Cavanagh on drums. Leah’s voice will appear on the next King Gizzard record Murder of The Universe.

Pretty Faces was mixed by renowned Melbourne engineer/producer Nick Huggins, who helped produce and record her debut album. Summer’s On The Ground reveals a haunting and intimate storyteller, Rolling Stone saying “this is insular music, akin to eavesdropping on someone else’s prettily conveyed thoughts”. The album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize as well as Best Folk and Roots Album for the Age Victoria Music Awards.

2016 also saw Leah performing extensively throughout Australia performing at major festivals including Queenscliff Music Festival, Bigsound, Waverock, and Kennedy’s Creek Music festival and supporting international artists including Calexico,
Jessica Pratt and Gregory Porter.

Tracklist:

01. Leah Senior - Where Have You Been
02. Leah Senior - You Were Not Fit For the Day
03. Leah Senior - Pretty Faces
04. Leah Senior - Jenny
05. Leah Senior - Black Limousine
06. Leah Senior - In the Night
07. Leah Senior - All My Friends
08. Leah Senior - You're Summer Rain
09. Leah Senior - Turn
10. Leah Senior - Loser